These Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies are flavored with peanut butter and butterscotch chips. Butterscotch haystacks are made with only 3 ingredients and are no bake, making them the perfect treat.
We are huge fans of no bake recipes just like these butterscotch cornflake cookies! If you are a fan, too, try out these Lucky Charms Bars, the pastel colors make them perfect for spring. This classic Lemon Freeze Pie recipe, is full of lemon flavor and has a cornflake crust. Or try these Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars, layered bars that look as good as they taste.
Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies
Whether you call these cornflake cookies or butterscotch haystacks, they are the sweet treat that everyone will love. Don’t be surprised if you get asked for the recipe because they are just that good.
The texture of these cookies have a crispness that is perfection. It comes from the crispy cornflakes. Goopy peanut butter mixed with butterscotch, gives these stacks their amazing flavor.
If you would like to make a baked version of butterscotch cookies you will love these oatmeal butterscotch cookies.
Cornflake Cookies
Believe me when I say that you won’t be able to just eat one of these cookies. I could probably devour the whole lot of them if I wasn’t paying a lot of attention, I just keep grabbing one after another.
One of the great things about these cookies, except for the fact that they only need 3 ingredients (win!), is that they are easy enough for kids to help make.
What are Haystack Cookies?
Haystack cookies are no bake treats that are crispy and buttery. Made with corn flakes that get coated with a butterscotch and peanut butter mixture. They are piled into little mounds that look like small haystacks. You can even add mix-ins if you like, like peanuts or marshmallows.
How cute are these with sprinkles? These are completely optional, but I did the multi color ones. You could do different colors to match any season or holiday throughout the year, like pastels for Easter or red and green for Christmas.
What Kind of Peanut Butter to Use?
This isn’t the place to use natural peanut butter, it is just too goopy and oily. The best way to get these cornflake cookies to turn out really well is to use just regular, smooth peanut butter. I have never tried using chunky peanut butter, if you do it let me know how it turns out in the comments below.
Butterscotch Cornflake Cookie Ingredients
- Butterscotch Chips: You’ll need one bag of butterscotch chips.
- Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter. Use regular peanut butter not natural.
- Cornflakes: Just plain cornflakes, not any with added sugar.
How to Make Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat and set it aside. Pour cornflakes into a large heat safe bowl.
- Melt the butterscotch chips and the peanut butter in a saucepan, using low heat and stirring constantly.
- Add the cornflakes and stir gently until well covered.
- Drop by tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet. You may need another spoon to get the mixture off of the first spoon. If using sprinkles, sprinkle them on now.
- Let the cookies sit for several hours or overnight. Or put into the refrigerator for them to be done even faster.
Can I make these Cornflake Cookies in the Microwave?
I typically will melt the butterscotch and peanut butter together in a sauce pan on the stove, but this can also be done in the microwave. Heat butterscotch chips for 15 second intervals, stirring well each time, until fully melted. Remove the butterscotch from the microwave and mix the peanut butter in well until it is smooth. Then pout that into the cornflakes. And continue with the instructions.
How to Make These Cookies into Bird Nests
You can turn these butterscotch and peanut butter cornflake cookies into birds nests with mini eggs for Easter or just for spring. You will need one extra ingredient and that is chocolate mini eggs (robins eggs) that have a thin colorful shell. This makes about 16-20 bird nests and you will need 2-3 per nest. You could also use jelly beans or mini marshmallows.
Make the cookies by scooping 1 tablespoons of the cornflake mixture onto the baking sheet. Gently make an indentation in the top with a small spoon. Let them cool completely. Top with robins eggs before serving.
Butterscotch Cornflake Cookie Tips & Variations
- Keep on low and stir. Be sure to keep the heat low and keep stirring so that the butterscotch and peanut butter mix does not seize up or burn.
- Cookie scoop. You can use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to assist in scooping the butterscotch mixture.
- Let them set. Make sure to let these set for a couple hours before enjoying to ensure they don’t fall apart.
- Add peanuts (or other chopped nuts). Add in 1/4 cup of roasted chopped peanuts to the melted peanut butter and butterscotch.
- Use chow mein. Traditional haystacks are made with dry chow mein noodles, so you can sub in a 10 ounce package of dry noodles instead of cornflakes. Don’t mistake these for ramen noodles or fried wontons. The chow mein sometimes comes in a can or a bag.
- Top with sprinkles. You can top these with any colored sprinkles.
- Haystack bird nests. Make these into bird nests for Easter. So cute! The directions are above.
- Add marshmallows. Add in 1/3 cups of miniature marshmallows in with the cornflakes.
- Use sweetened flakes. If you really want these sweeter, you could use flakes that are frosted instead of plain flakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you keep these no bake cookies in the refrigerator? You do not have to store these no bake butterscotch cookies in the fridge. They will last in an airtight container on the counter.
How long does it take for no bakes cookies to set? You have to wait until these cookies set completely before enjoying them or they will just fall apart. This will take about 2-4 hours.
Can I make these butterscotch haystacks without peanut butter? Yes, make them just butterscotch haystacks by leaving out the peanut butter. Just use about 3 cups of corn flakes to make up for the lost ingredient.
Storage Instructions
How to refrigerate butterscotch cookies? After letting the cookies set, put them in an air tight container. They should last about a week in the fridge.
How to freeze butterscotch haystacks? Let cookies set completely before putting into an air tight, freezer safe container. Cookies can be frozen for about a month, just be sure to label with the recipe and date.
Try these other sweet recipes!
- Watergate Cake
- Bakery Style Strawberry Muffins
- Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Coconut Macaroons
- Snickerdoodle Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
If you’ve tried this butterscotch peanut butter cornflake cookie recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes!
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No Bake Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cups cornflakes
- 11 ounce bag butterscotch chips
- 1 cup peanut butter creamy
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat and set it aside.
- Pour cornflakes into a large heat safe bowl.
- Melt the butterscotch chips and the peanut butter in a saucepan over low heat and stirring constantly.
- Add the cornflakes and stir gently until well covered.
- Drop by tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet. You may need another spoon to get the mixture off of the first spoon. If using sprinkles, sprinkle them on now.
- Let the cookies sit for several hours or overnight. Or put into the refrigerator for them to be done even faster.
Notes
- Keep on low and stir. Be sure to keep the heat low and keep stirring so that the butterscotch and peanut butter mix does not seize up or burn.
- Cookie scoop. You can use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to assist in scooping the butterscotch mixture.
- Let them set. Make sure to let these set for a couple hours before enjoying to ensure they don’t fall apart or put in the refrigerator to set up quicker.
- Add peanuts (or other chopped nuts). Add in 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts to the melted peanut butter and butterscotch.
- Use chow mein. Traditional haystacks are made with dry chow mein noodles, so you can sub in a 10 ounce package of dry noodles instead of cornflakes. Don’t mistake these for ramen noodles or fried wontons. The chow mein sometimes comes in a can or a bag.
- Top with sprinkles. You can top these with any colored sprinkles.
- Add marshmallows. Add in 1/3 cups of miniature marshmallows in with the cornflakes.
- Use sweetened flakes. If you really want these sweeter, you could use flakes that are frosted instead of plain flakes.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out!
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Love the combination of Peanut Butter , Butter Scotch and Cornflakes. No cook sounds interesting too. This is so easy and yet so delicious and creative too.
Wow! Another cookie recipe that we can enjoy. Definitely looks so yummy and the texture makes it enticing and tempting! Plus I love the toppings sprinkle ball in it!
Hope you love these cookies, Amy. Thanks!!
These just took me back to my childhood! So I made them and wow – as good as I remembered! I always had them as bird’s nests with the eggs around Easter. These are great! Thanks for resurfacing a classic!
They definitely bring back some great child hood memories. Thanks so much Amanda!
These are devlishly good. The kids (me) wooofed them down.
Lol, glad that the “kids” enjoyed them, Megan.
My five year old loves making these with me. They are tasty and perfect for having him help in the kitchen!
These are the perfect cookies for kids. My kids love helping me with these too. Thanks so much Amy!
I loved the addition of cornflakes to these cookies. The recipe is soo easy and yet gives a very delicious evening snack.
I love how easy these cookies are, too. Thanks for commenting, Savita!
Yummy! These are great no-bake cookies. The kids loved them.
Thanks Andrea!
Such a bold cookie and compelling bite. I loved the texture and butterscotch flavor. They are wicked good! And no bake? Sign me up.
Such a sweet comment, thanks so much Jenny!
I struggle with no bake cookies, but these were so simple and easy to make! Came out perfect and delicious!
I’m so glad to hear that these worked well for you.
We love no bake cookies like this but I have never had them with butterscotch. Well , I will have them no other way . They were amazing and so easy . Thanks for a great recipe.
No bake cookies are the best! Thanks Debbie!
These butterscotch cornflake cookies are so simple and easy to make! It was perfect to make on a hot day like today.
Its so nice to make a yummy recipe, but not have to turn on your oven!
I’ve grown up eating cornflake cakes but never with this flavouring!! I can’t wait to try it with Butterscotch and peanut butter!
Hope you love them Hayley!
My kids LOVED these! The sprinkles made them so fun. They were the perfect afternoon snack for them that they loved and I loved that I didn’t have to turn on the oven!
Aren’t the sprinkles fun? My kids loved that part too! So glad your kids loved these!